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The study examines export impact of Pakistan's integration into Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) on its export's performance. We apply Poisson Pseudo-Maximum Likelihood (PPML) on augmented gravity model to estimate trade data from the period before and after permanent membership with Shanghai Cooperation Organization in 2017. The study aims to explore changes in exports volume and analyze the key mechanism through which Shanghai Cooperation Organization promotes exports. The study assesses that after integration which key exports sector such as agriculture or manufacturing sectors are affected more significantly. The initial findings suggest that SCO integration positively affect and provide access to Central Asian markets, leading to modest but noticeable promotion in exports promotion. In heterogeneity analysis we find that exports of Pakistan are more significant with low and middle-income level countries compared to higher-income level countries. Additionally, exports in the manufacturing sector benefited more than in the agriculture sector. The significant and positive findings of mechanism analysis indicate that the belt and road (B&R) initiative and bilateral trade agreements are the key factors to enhanced exports. The overall impact remains moderated by structural changes in Pakistan economy, such as poor infrastructure, deficiency in energy sector and limited trade relations with its neighbors India and Iran. The study concludes that although the SCO integration has positively promoted exports of Pakistan however, it requires to address domestic economic constraints and capitalize more effectively the benefits of SCO membership through regional cooperation mechanism. For more potential benefits in the region SCO needs to expand B&R connectivity, encourage more trade agreements, and adopt favorable environment to attract high income countries in the organization. The study provides the base for future research in depth analysis of long-term impact of SCO integration on Pakistan exports. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the role of legal structure in explaining financial development in twenty-three emerging markets, which has not been explored in institutional economics literature before. This study relied on Pedroni, and Kao cointegration tests, which is followed by the renowned panel cointegration technique. The results of the Pedroni and Kao cointegration tests show that the variables understudy is cointegrated in the long-run. These findings are confirmed by the panel cointegration showing that legal structure (LS) has positive impact on financial development (FIND) in long-run that support Law and Finance, and New Institutional Economics theories in emerging markets. This study is the first to directly examine the long-run impact of LS on FIND in emerging markets, and the result remains consistent across alternative measure of FIND. The findings of this study have important policy implications for emerging markets. Policymakers should focus on creating a legal environment that is conducive to financial development. This includes strengthening the legal framework, improving regulatory regimes, and promoting market autonomy. Additionally, policymakers should work to attract foreign investment, which can help spur economic growth and development in emerging markets. The findings of the study are consistent across battery of robustness testing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fostering sustainable development (SD) through the utilization of available resources, including natural resources, is a common global aspiration. This study delves into the intricate relationship between natural resource abundance (NRA), SD, and the moderating role of press freedom in this paradigm. Utilizing a comprehensive dataset spanning 109 countries from 2001 to 2020, we employed fixed effect regression and two‐step dynamic system GMM estimators. Our findings show that NRA has a negative impact on SD, posing a significant threat to the SD. We identify each individual type of natural resource that negatively influences SD, underscoring the need for sustainable management practices for these resources. On the other hand, press freedom is found to have a positive effect on SD, playing an influential role in promoting SD. The moderating effect of press freedom further emphasizes its vital role as a safeguard, mitigating the detrimental effects of resource abundance on the SD. Our study has important policy implications, suggesting that by adopting sustainable resource management practices and upholding press freedom, policymakers can pave the way for a more sustainable and environmentally responsible future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Differences in institutions have garnered much attention in recent years as one of the primary reasons for long-term economic performance, and a vast corpus of theoretical and empirical research demonstrates that financial development can have a substantial impact on economic and financial performance. In fast-growing emerging markets, the demand for financial services has considerably increased, which amplified the need for an efficient regulatory framework to deal with the sensitive nature of financial activities. Surprisingly, the existing literature on the impact of institutions and finance is focused on developed economies, while emerging markets are rarely focused on. Since emerging markets are becoming increasingly important as a result of the swift evolution of institutional and financial transformation, it is crucial to examine how the growth of financial markets reacts to institutional quality. This study investigates the role of institutions in promoting finance in emerging economies using the balanced panel dataset of 21 emerging market. Given the endogenous relationship between institutions and finance, the paper applies a two-stage least squares estimator to test the settler mortality hypothesis in this context. Aligned with theoretical intuition, the empirical result shows that settler mortality is a relevant instrument to institutions. Furthermore, the study performs robustness, using framework that deals with heterogeneity, and cross-section dependence. This empirical effort validates La Porta's Law and Finance Hypothesis in the context of emerging markets. The results of the study are found robust across the variety of alternative measures of institutions and finance, and standard error correction specifications. Therefore, the study offers useful insight into policy implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]